Luohanguo: high value-added downstream products with great market potential

Siraitia grosvenorii, as one of the endemic plants in China, is native to Guilin mountain area of Guangxi Yongfu and Lingui have the highest yield and Yongfu has the highest sweetness As early as 2002, the output of Siraitia grosvenorii in Yongfu County accounted for 80% of the total domestic output There are also wild resources in Guangdong, Jiangxi and other provinces, but the output is small In addition, Guizhou and Hunan are also developing related planting in recent years Japan has imported a large number of Siraitia from China since the 1990s In addition to being a natural sweetener, Japanese manufacturers have also developed a variety of health food by using rohangoside, such as anti allergy granules, weight-loss food, sugar reducing food, etc.; it has also been used as a sweetener in pharmaceutical production, replacing aspartame, saccharin sodium, etc., to produce syrup, granules, chewing tablets, effervescent tablets and other oral preparations Luohanguo, not only the best sweetener in the taste, is mainly used to treat cough in traditional Chinese medicine It is rich in vitamin C, fructose, essential amino acids, various trace elements and glycosides Japanese scholars have found that Siraitia grosvenorii is a kind of natural raw material for reducing blood sugar and weight loss, which has a good hypoglycemic effect on the animal model of diabetes in mice Its main active ingredient is the natural sweet substance, rohangoside, which is called "cucurbitacin triterpenoid" It has a refreshing sweetness Its sweetness is about 300 times that of white sugar, and its heat is very low Besides, it does not have the special bitter taste or "green grass taste" like stevioside It is one of the best natural sweeteners in the taste It is also called "natural nutritive sweetener" because it contains zinc and amino acids There are also reports in Japan that the oral liquid processed with rhG has the effect of anti allergic rhinitis and anti digestive tract tumor The export of upstream products continues to grow At present, many enterprises in China have produced products with light color and high content of triterpenoid glycosides For example, Guilin sweet, a high-purity siraitin product developed by he Weiping, director of Laboratory of Guangxi Normal University, has been exported to the U.S market in large quantities; a company in Yongfu County, Guangxi Province, with the help of New Zealand researchers, has developed a high-quality siraitin product, which has been exported to Japan, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, etc In 1990, the fresh fruit output of Siraitia grosvenorii was only 20 million pieces per year (about 1 million kg) Since then, with the increasing demand of Japan and other developed countries for Siraitia grosvenorii and its extract, the production area of Siraitia grosvenorii in China has entered a rapid expansion stage In 2002, the fresh fruit output of Siraitia grosvenorii in China has increased sharply to 80 million (converted into the output of about 4-5 million kg) In recent years, the international market demand for siraitin continues to rise In 2009, the national total output of siraitin exceeded 160 million pieces, and the total annual export volume of siraitin exceeded 250 tons The annual export order of siraitin produced by Guilin Jiqi strength biological company alone exceeds 100 tons, which is in short supply The potential of high value-added downstream products now, the production of Siraitia grosvenorii in China has entered a virtuous circle mode, and the farmers in Guangxi and other provinces who popularize the industry of Siraitia grosvenorii have increased their per capita income by 3000-5000 yuan / year, from no backlog or unsalable problems Luohan fruit industry has become a "cash cow" for farmers However, as the world's only major producer and exporter of Siraitia grosvenorii and its extract, the economic value of exporting Siraitia grosvenoride is not high In contrast, the developed countries, after importing Chinese Luohanguo glycoside at a low price, further processed it into high value-added health care products, with a great profit Siraitia grosvenorii is one of the unique plants in the south of China Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, India and other countries do not have Siraitia grosvenorii resources For Chinese Siraitia grosvenorii growers, there is no pressure of international market competition (Siraitia grosvenorii likes shade and is not resistant to high temperature sun, so it grows well in mountainous areas of Guangxi and other provinces) However, Chinese enterprises should not only be satisfied with the low-cost export of rohangoside for exchange, but also actively develop various downstream health products of rohangoside, especially diet foods and anti allergy foods, so as to improve economic benefits.